Ultimate Magic
by Shin-Ra 26
Summary: (Rated PG because of some gory descriptions) The Black Materia. The White Materia. Sephiroth is alive and more powerful, and after both. Can Cloud stop him before he attains the ultimate magic?
1. Beginning and Thought

He no longer felt the pain. Was he dead? He could still remembered the way each slash of the sword had felt, the way the cold steel had cut. There had been only a few seconds of pain afterwards, numbness taking over after that. Hadn't he been absorbed into the L:ifestream? The wounds that he had sustained were enough to have killed even him, but hadn't they? He had a sudden realization.

Of course he wasn't dead. He could still think! He thought he could almost feel his body, or his arms at least.

"Heh heh heh..." His entire body rocked with laughter. He hadn't been absorbed like he had expected. He hadn't been destroyed. He opened his eyes and looked around. The Lifestream? Yes, the Lifestream. Why had it chosen to save him? Or maybe...perhaps the planet had chosen to reject him. He held up his hands and looked at them, feeling the strange power that seemed to flow through his veins. 

Part of the Lifestream flowed through his veins. Sephiroth had no doubt right then that he had attained what he had wished from the very beginning. So Jenova was dead. That wasn't of any matter to him now. He'd control the planet without her. He had captured Holy, trapped it with his evil, but he hadn't counted on the Lifestream. Meteor had been destroyed due to the intervention of that accursed stream. Now he held some of that power within him. He felt more powerful now than he had before!

Still, there was that one soul, that one power that dared challenge his. That power, that failure, had a name. 

That name was Cloud. He could still feel him, sense him. Cloud had been a puppet that had played right into his hands. He had manipulated him, only stopping when he became curious, wanting to see that spiky-haired clone's real power. That curiosity had killed him. He wouldn't underestimate Cloud again. He wouldn't overestimate him, either.

Still, not even Cloud would dare try to stop him if he held the ultimate magic. Not even the planet would have a chance. All he needed were the two pieces to the puzzle. Perhaps he'd even be able to use Cloud once more.

*****

Cloud finally understood who he was. Tifa had helped him bring out his memories, his true memories, but he had not truly understood them until he had defeated Sephiroth. His head had a strange clearness as he fought that final battle. Almost as if something had lifted itself from him. 

Sometimes the memories, his memories, were hared to separate from Zack's. He still considered himself a former member of SOLDIER. 

"Cloud! Get your spiky ass out here!" Barret yelled from outside. Of course who had the time to think about the past when they had _volunteered _to help rebuilt Coral? Actually, Barret had nearly held Cloud at gun-arm point for him to do it. 

Reluctantly, Cloud got out of bed. Since they had started the rebuilding, the inn had offered to put them up for free each night for however long it took. Tifa still appeared to be asleep in the bed on the other side of the room. For some reason she had been purposely avoiding him. When he had asked why, she had always found something else that just _had_ to have her immediate attention. 

Tifa watched Cloud leave the inn. She hadn't been asleep. She had been watching him. Little by little Cloud's actions and words had been changing. Sometimes she would even find herself watching him toss and turn in his sleep at night. She'd wake him, but his eyes were strange and different she looked into them. They were always blank as voids, or full of some unknown and unvoiced hatred. Cloud would never remember her waking him nor would he remember his dreams. Sometimes she wondered if she had waken him at all. 

Tifa had decided to keep her distance for a while, if anything just to watch him.

Outside---

"Whoa!" Clodu yanked his hand back. "Watch it!"

"!@#$!%! Jus' hold th' nail!" Barret replied, hammer in hand. 

"Why don't you do it? You almost hit me every time."

Barret shoved his gun arm up in Cloud's face. "Ya think I can? Shi't, what's wrong with you? You ain't been actin' like yourself."

"I'm ok." He shrugged in reply.

"Then hold th' god damn nail!"

Cloud sighed and held the nail in place, hoping Barret wouldn't miss again. The dark skinned man didn't. With one blow the nail was securely embedded in the wall. Both men stepped back to view their handy work. Another house repaired. At least now it actually looked like a house instead of a shack. 

Barret looked over at Cloud. "Damn man, you look bad. You really ain't feelin' good."

The spiky blond gave one of his famous shrugs. "What? I told you I'm fine."

"It is about that time of year, ain't it. Been a year since she died."

"Yeah."

"You going to go?" Cloud looked up. Barret had known for a while that he had been planning on returning to the City of the Ancients, so why would he ask about it now?

Not long after Meteor had been destroyed and everyone went their separate ways, they had all promised to return to the City of the Ancients on the day Aeris had died. Everyone wanted to pay their respects, Cloud knew, but not as much as him.

"Of course! Aren't you?"

"Yeah. She saved Marlene an' th' planet more 'n once. 'Course I'd go!"

"But Tifa's been acting strange lately. I'm not sure if I should go."

"Ever thought this might be affecting her, too?" Barret crossed his arms. "She'll get over it."

Cloud nodded. That might have been the reason, but why would Tifa avoid him if she was upset over Aeris? It didn't make any sense.

"Hey, you two, get your lazy butts down here an' give us a hand!" A man standing on top of a partially unbuilt house yelled. 

"Jus' wait a minute!" Barret yelled back. The man made a motion and looked like he gave Barret the finger, but the shingles on the roof he stood on gave away. 

Correction, the shingles that he had _had_ been standing on. Barret ran over to help the now unconscious guy laying on the ground.

*****

Step by step, the man in the black cape wandered through the remains of the North Crater. He could feel what he was searching for nearby. That which Cloud had so eagerly given him only a year before.

Finally his mako-infused eyes caught the glint of black. The vines and materia that had once been his prison were now the Black Materia's. Huge vines entwined themselves aroudn the black orb, then around each other as if for protection. 

Sephiroth laughed at the planet's feeble attempt to shield the materia. "Do you really think these pitiful vines can stop me?" He drew his sword, the long blade gleaming. "The Lifestream and Holy can't protect you this time. I seek the ultimate magic, greater than even Meteor's!"

The masamune severed the vines with two swipes. The materia fell into Sephiroth's gloved hand. Now all he needed was the final piece. It would be relatively easy to obtain.

But the power of Holy that flowed through the White Materia wouldn't allow him to touch it. Holy might not have been able to stop Meteor alone, but alone it was still much more powerful than him. If only that Cetra that he had killed had known how much power she had held! 

It didn't matter. In the end not even Holy would be able to stop him. 


	2. Unknown Dreams

Tifa watched as Cloud's chest gently rose and fell with each breath he took. His eyes were closed in sleep, but he showed the sure signs of a dream. He had restless days as well as restless nights. She knew she'd probably be waking him soon. 

-----The feeling of the sword in his hands, the weight of the blade as he walked toward the silent praying figure. It was all as it had been back then. 

He tried to release his grip, but the sword stayed firmly in his hand. In the back of his mind he could feel another power force him forward, the only thing he was able to do was watch. The weight of the weapon became oppressive in his hands as he raised it above his head. Cloud wanted to close his eyes, knowing what would come next. His eyes stayed open and his vision stayed dryingly clear.

_This is only a dream. This can't be happening! It's already....happened...._ The sword came slashing down. The sickening sound of blade through flesh filled his ears as his vision blackened.

_No! I never.....Sephiroth killed her! It wasn't me._ His sight was still black, but he still heard. He still felt the pressure and tension in his muscles. He could still feel his hands closed tightly around the hilt of the sword. Then the darkness left.

Aeris was limp, her body held up only by the long blade impaling her through the middle. His hand held tightly to the hilt still.

He watched the White Materia fall from Aeris's bow. It fell off the platform, a small plunk heard as the materia hit the water and sank. He wasn't burning inside with hatred as he had been then. He wasn't tingling with the agony. His eyes didn't burn. What was wrong?

The sword slid out, leaving a clean-cut wound. Cloud's mind raced when he looked down. Why was his hand on the sword? Sephiroth's sword.....

Aeris fell to the ground and where once Cloud was in the past to catch her as she fell, no one was there this time. She lay face down on the platform. His vision was cast into darkness once again.-----

Cloud lay back down and fell into a silent sleep. Tifa lay down back in her bed as well. He had given her the usual blank stare. She didn't even think she had waken him at all. As she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but wonder. He had been dreaming, but what about?

*****

"I'm coming!" Red XIII gasped as he ran, nearly out of breath. He had never before run the full distance of Cosmo Canyon before without stopping. Nor did he care to attempt such a feat again.

"Then get your #$%@ ass over here! You're takin' too much time." Cid shook his fists in the air at the red lion-like creature.

Red XIII, paw over paw, climbed up the ladder into the Highwind. At the top, Cloud helped him into the ship.

"Ladders weren't made for me to climb." He panted as he entered the bridge.

"Then I'll get a ramp built later!" Cid turned to Cloud, who was watching out the front window. "Cloud, we're ready to head to Wutai."

"Wutai?" repeated Cloud questioningly.

"Yeah. Yuffie wanted to pay her respects, remember?"

Cloud reluctantly nodded. He wasn't too keep about having the materia-stealing Wutan around, especially after she had drug him on that date at the Gold Saucer. Cloud had to admit that she was interesting to have around, especially as comic relief. Plus she had part of the team when Aeris had died.

It only took a few minutes for the Highwind to enter the Wutai area. Even before the ship touched down, Yuffie could be seen waving both her hands madly in the air. Cloud had to look twice before realizing that the figure standing behind her was Vincent. 

Cid saw the puzzled expression on the blond's face. He chuckled, explaining, "Ol' vampire boy seems to have got over that Lucrecia chick. Found himself someone new."

Cloud glanced back over at the two, who now stood on the deck. Yuffie's hair was a little bit longer, now about shoulder length, but otherwise she looked, acted, and spoke just the same. Vincent, on the other hand, looked almost totally different. His hair was still ong and slightly spiked, but now it was pulled back into a loose pony tail. He also wore a pair of black jeans and a blue t-shirt. His ultimate weapon, the Outsider, was still in it's holster attached to his belt and his metal clawed arm appeared not as menacing as it had been before. Somehow Cloud found it awkward to imagine the two as a couple.

Then again, a lot can happen in a year.

As soon as the Highwind took off, Yuffie assumed her usual position between some crates and took on the color of nausea. 

So maybe some thing were harder to change than others. 


End file.
